is more serious and, as
far as I see at present, I could do nothing in half an hour which
would, in any way, ensure the destruction of the tunnel. To make
such a chamber as I speak of to hold two barrels of nitroglycerine
would be the work of four or five days, working night and day--even
with the aid of powder--and of course, it would be out of the
question to hope for as many hours."

There was a pause of consternation, as Lieutenant Ribouville spoke.
Here was the end of the grand scheme, from which they had expected
so much. At this time, the Germans had no other line of rail at
their command; and the destruction of the tunnel would have been a
disaster, equal to that of the loss of a pitched battle.

"There would be no chance, would there, of our hiding in the woods
under which the tunnel runs; so as to bore down to it, and blow it
in from above?" Major Tempe asked.

"None whatever. The depth to be bored would be considerable. The
stone is hard, and it could not be pierced without the use of
powder, which would betray our presence; and even could we use it,
and were the men all good miners, it would be a work of months, at
the very least."

There was a silence for some minutes, and then the commandant said:

"We cannot give it up, without a trial. Think it over, Ribouville,
for the next three or four days. You may be able to pitch upon some
plan. If you cannot do so, we must at least try the experiment of
exploding our nitroglycerine in the middle of the tunnel--or, at
any rate, as far in as we can carry it--and make our retreat in the
half hour, which is all the time we can calculate upon holding the
entrance."

Chapter 7: A Baffled Project.

Before leaving the headquarters of the commandant, the young
Barclays asked if he wished that they should continue to keep
silence upon the subject of their expedition. The commandant
replied that he did not see that it could do any harm, provided
that they impressed upon their comrades the necessity of
maintaining an absolute silence upon the subject, when any of the
people of the neighborhood were present. Although the villagers
might appear to understand no language but German, they might yet
know enough French to glean what was said and, if traitorously
inclined, to warn the Germans, and thus enormously increase the
danger when the Barclays should again go down to the town.

Their cousins had already heard of their return; for the boys, upon
sitting down